Circlesquare is Vancouver born and Berlin-based Jeremy Shaw. His music is thick and powerful, and I would say more important for the music world (by way of inspiring musicians) than it is great. But it can also be very great. Jeremy began Circlesquare in 1999 with a 3 track EP called The Distance After - an EP which began to sketch out the musical landscape Jeremy sought to chart. By 2003 his orientation in this space was more defined with his full length album Pre-Earthquake Anthem. Boomkat called it “dense, considered stuff… mixing up a brooding and pounding melancholy, bass-fueled sensory exploration, and purest minimal electronic meltdown.”
7 Minutes
In 2006 he released Fight Sounds EP on which he seemed to be pushing the industrial button a bit more, all the while keeping things at the pace of a snail on fire.
Here's Fight Sounds Pt. 1, a track about shifting loyalties among friends and the question as to who is to blame for when they fall apart.
Then in 2007, the label that was releasing his stuff Output went under and Jeremy had to find another label. He first began work on his next LP from Vancouver, writing songs without practicing them with a band. In 2008 he moved back to Berlin, reformed a band and began playing his new songs live. He then went into the studio with the experience and refinement that only playing live can bring. The 2009 full length album that followed, Songs About Dancing and Drugs, was released on !K7. Here is a quick promo interview with Jeremy about the album.
Timely (Excerpt) -- a hommage to Vancouver in the late 90's.
So go to filestube and download Songs About Dancing and Drugs and while your there and in a polished fashion-smart vocal dance mood, get Tiga's pretty excellent Ciao! album from last year if you don't have it already. I have Gentle Giant, the albums deepest cut on repeat here at graefe headquaters. No surprise that its co-written and produced by James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem). Now go to hotfile and get the Gentle Giant Remix package with a sweet dubstep version by none other than Martyn and a pretty good minimal effort by Efdemin (that unfortunately sounds not enough like the original). Check here for Tiga's typically quirky press release for the package.
Tiga - Gentle Giant (Co-Written and Produced by James Murphy)
I play this one so much, I think I will have to retire it... soon.. ish... for a short while... maybe. Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side (Holtoug Bootleg) {hit dl arrow} Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side Holtoug Bootleg by HOLTOUG
Ever since Mickey Moonlight turned me on to kiwi Connan Hosford (aka. Connan Mockasin) I have been a fan. He was originally in a band called Connan and the Mockasin's - a band formed around him and his 60's blues/rock sound in 2003 or 2004. They released 3 EP's in NZ, but then broke up at some point in or just after 2007 due to Connan's boredom with the sound they had cemented themselves into. He wanted to be free to pursue which ever sound style he was attracted to and collaborate with whomever he chose. This worked out well for Connan, as his psychedelic pop demo's were enough to catch the attention of Parlophone, Fatboy Slim and other artists and labels who quickly wanted to produce his debut album. Connan was in no rush to sign and more importantly, wanted creative control over the final product. So he turned down many offers and waited for the label who saw eye to eye with him. Eventually, (and perhaps through Late of the Pier) he met up with Erol Alkan's eclectic, yet mostly electro label Phantasy Sound. Besides being an electro kingpin, Erol Alkan is also one half of the psychedelic rock re-animators Beyond the Wizards Sleeve, so its not so strange that he signed Connan to his label.
Connan's debut solo album 'Please Turn Me Into The Snat' {FS} was released this summer and it is outstanding in the best possible sense. His sound is reminiscent of a lost Beatles album from 1969 or a freakishly confident oompa-loompa on acid. His songs are mostly about nothing (gibberish) or imaginary worlds and people - his song titles are a good indicator of lyrical content; Unicorn in Uniform, Megumi the Milkyway Above, Forever Dolphin Love, Sneaky Sneaky Dogfriend.
Megumi the Milkyway Above is the awesome first single from the album. I have had it on repeat in my head for 4 days now. It didn't get a video however, so you get it to a NZ longboard video instead.
Forever Dolphin Love, a song about making love to dolphins, will be the next single with remixes from Mickey Moonlight and judging by his twitter page, Erol Alkan himself.
Acoustic versions of Megumi and Its Choade My Dear with Amsterdam Acoustics.
I cant embed the video but you have to check out Sneaky Sneaky Dogfriend by Connan and the Mockasin's. Priceless!!
Some fun facts from an interview with Connan. Connan: “I can’t remember where I first heard snat [half snake/half rat] but I remember being fascinated with it. The same with choade; I just kept saying it. Then the snat thing morphed into a small guy thing. I’m really small, I reckon another couple of inches and I’d be snat material but I’m talking about guys even smaller than me. I’ve found a few now and I’ve been taking them on tour to wear snat suits on stage. I found one in London so hopefully he can come on my album tour.”
Also quoted from the same interview: 'There’s an album with Liam Finn and Lawrence Arabia under the name BARB coming out at the end of the summer. Plus a new project with Late Of The Pier’s Sam Eastgate that’s yet to be unveiled. Somewhere along the way he hopes his music takes him to Japan, as it turns out the madcap world he’s created is to woo his future love. “I’ve got a thing for the Japanese gene pool and I thought I’d make the album to hopefully become popular in Japan.” So it’s to find you a Japanese wife? “Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That’s the main thing,” he says with shining eyes.'
Mickey Moonlight (aka. Midnight Mike, Mike Silver, Mike Sonovac, and Soft Verge) seems to be either against a commercial web presence or hasn't gotten there yet. His myspace has his tour dates, some tracks and a couple mixes, but no more. Discogs has a ton of entry's for many of his aliases, but most are obscure and forgotten techno or left-field karaoke-style covers. His website is either under construction or subtly jabbing a middle finger in your pineal gland, or both. Some larger more obvious points are that he co-produced Zongamin's self-titled LP in 2003, and in 2008 he was signed to less-than-mediocre electro-rock label Ed Banger Records.
As Mickey Moonlight he has a single called Interplanetary Music and an EP Love Pattern. But combined he only has 5 original songs out and they are not my cup of tea. A bit too, uh, different. I much prefer his remixes, of which there are many of top quality. I wont give much by way of introduction. If you like one I'll leave it up to you to connect the dots.
Clock Opera - A Piece of String (Mickey Moonlight Remix). This track is definitely in my top 3 at the moment. Click the download arrow to buy or check filestube for Piece of String Remixes A Piece Of String (Mickey Moonlight Remix) by clockopera
Circlesquare - Hey You Guys (Mickey Moonlight Remix) {mediafire} {original and other remixes here}
Jack Penate - Tonight's Today (Mickey Moonlight Mix Pt. 1) (buy the ep and get the more upbeat Pt. 2 and a nice one from Leo Zero)(or just get Pt. 1 here)
Photonz - Our Fable (Mickey Moonlight Remix) (Glass Onion EP) Kinda has an Aerosmith Sweet Emotion riff vibe there.
Apollo Sunshine - Singing To The Earth (Mickey Moonlight Remix)
Findlay Brown - Everybody Needs Love (Mickey Moonlight Remix) (mediafire)
Tame Impala Make some pretty psychedelic indie-rock. I will go back and check to see if their music, other that the Solitude is Bliss single is worth sharing. Mickey remixed Solitude is Bliss, but maybe the Canyons one is my pick. Both are free downloads f you hit the arrow. The original video has its moments. Tame Impala - Solitude is Bliss (Mickey Moonlight Remix) Tame Impala - Solitude Is Bliss (Mickey Moonlight Remix) by theQuietus
And here is a couple dj sets Mickey recently did. July 2010
May 2010
He has completed a few remixes that are either out or will be sometime soon. The first is a remix for the New Young Pony Club's 'We Want To' that was supposed to be released with the We Want To EP in June, but wasn't. So keep your eyes peeled for it to be leaked or released on another NYPC EP, but you can hear a sample of it (and maybe buy it?) here.
Second is an upbeat synth-based remix of Acid Washed by Acid Washed, which you can stream on his facebook page and buy here.
Third is a remix of Forever Dolphin Love by Connan Mockasin, his and mine favourite new artist. More on that tomorrow.
If your still curious about Mickey, check out an interview he did with Asian Dan a couple years ago.
Hello. Not sure if any of you noticed, but the Wild Beasts post below was removed the other day. It was moved into my drafts folder because it, via linking to some filesharing sites, violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). I removed the links and reposted it finding it interesting that only one of my posts caught the attention of someone or something, as most of my posts link to filesharing sites. Regardless, I decided that I would not be so obvious with my linking to filesharing sites. Instead what I will do is put {FS} next to the tracks, EP's or albums that can be found and downloaded through filesharing search engines, like filestube for example. Bit torrents also work if you know how to use them and the file(s) you search is popular enough, which is admittedly rare. If you don't know how to use Bit torrents just ask google. Its all very easy.
I recommend using elbo.ws instead of the hype machine when looking for specific singles because with elbo.ws you can usually see the bitrate of the song before going to the blog and downloading it (higher is better). Mp3's found via these blog search engines are usually legally-free promos from labels and bands and so can range in quality.
Ok. So thats it basically. I guess just remember to actually see the artists when they come around and tell your friends about them so that they can still become full time musicians who get to travel for free. Although I am not making the argument here, there seems to be grounds for the position that filesharing music (free mp3s) could have the upshot of both saving musicians from self-destruction and saving the industry from the slimy fat-cats and middle-men sucking the blood out of and pumping the puss into the music industry. Fame with moderate money could be a much healthier environment for both artists and 'consumers'. As you can tell I'm moved by just the sketch of this theory. What we need now are some facts to confirm or deny it. Anyone want a research project?
Closing the focus meeting is a forward-looking thought. In no particular order expect more classic rock and funk edits, the premier of a new series with the working title of Too Disco?, some very intelligent psychedelic rock, and a full, or at least reasoned discussion of the ideas in and around this video:
PS. Above is a pic of Vancouver I stole from someone's facebook album. I forget who, but you rock.
Bruno Pronsato is a "sound scientist whose work is equally playful and rigorous, Pronsato deploys a canny use of space and idiosyncratically fashioned rhythms to disorient and build suspense—like some 21st-century Miles Davis or Eric Dolphy of the laptop. Despite being a minimal-techno artist, Pronsato offers a palette that’s as full of unexpected patterns and meticulously rendered textures as a Wassily Kandinsky painting..." - Bruno Pronsato's Myspace
"Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian abstract expressionist painter and art theorist. He was an incredibly sensitive man who wrote several books on the emotional qualities of colour and shape and likened painting to composing a piece of music... his personal observations delved deep into colour psychology and the link between music and colour. 'Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.'" - quoted from here. More here.
I got Pronsato's critically acclaimed album 'Why Can't We Be Like Us' after seeing it somewhere near or in the top of RA's best albums of 2008, but couldn't get into it. I wasn't ready. But his name kept coming up, so I thought I would give him another chance. I went to his myspace page and read that his 2009 follow up album was the first release on his own label The Song Says and its a single 38 minute track, 'The Make Up The Break Up'. This is what the blurb said about it:
"Musically speaking, we are on a ride somewhere between a slithery house track and a drugged out night out in Chelsea, New York in the '60s -- and that's a good thing because we get the entirety of the ride: the ups, the downs, the clouded mentality, the broken heart and perhaps the mended one. It's happy, it's sad -- it's something that you can dance to, but most importantly, it's music that we think you can revisit for many years, as it somehow reflects us, our lives. A playful and extended journey through love and disaster, or at least the soundtrack to it."
So I eagerly got the album and put it on. I suggest you do the same. (Downloads at the bottom from now on).
Around the time of The Make up The Break Up, he discovered Benoit and Sergio, who I already tipped you off about. Pronsato "fell in love with [Sergio's] sort of classy pop sensibility" on their What I've Lost EP. He was especially inspired by the track Full Grown Man. So he released the 2 original Benoit and Sergio tracks along with 2 remixes, one by himself and the other by Insideout, as the second release on his own label.
During their meeting Sergio and Pronsato discussed future plans to work together. So Sergio came to Berlin, where Pronsato lives, and they made a track as NDF and got legend Ricardo Villalobos to remix it. The EP was released on DFA last week.
The Villalobos remix is not my thing, but the original, Since We Last Met, definitely is. Amazing!
"One day I'll see her on the street, and we'll greet with casualness, and discuss the flow beneath the bridges, since we last met. And that'll be all."
Lastly, Bruno Pronsato recently did a podcast for RA where he recorded a minimal set in his home studio. If your into it, head over there, get the mp3 and read the little interview to get more info about what he's up to.
One Man Edit is Luca Trevisi from Italy. He's known mostly as LTJ Experience and his disco edits are legendary. Here's three EP's of chugging disco (check the first track on the second ep and look for the download on the third).
Here's a sweet track from Justin Vandervolgen and Lee Douglas, operating as TBD. The beginning bit is pretty standard, then he turns the knob and goes extendo. The limited pressing vinyls ran out in days. Try to Find Me - Get To My Baby (TBD Extension) (out of stock)
The legendary Moodymann does it again with a limited edition 12" of 5 tracks of funky house and soulful Detroit techno. Moodymann - Ol' Dirty Vinyl (buy) The title track, Ol' Dirty Vinyl (U Used To Know) was apparently recorded in three hours “in Vienna in some hotel near the castle” - factmag. Download the title track over at mediafire
Moodymann - Its Too Late 4 U & Me
And as a little bonus, cause my skin feels nice, here is a couple Henrik Schwarz' remixes of Dancing Machine by The Jackson Five. (buy) (rapidshare)
so i have a couple minutes to kill, so i thought i'd write a quick and uncapitalized something. not much to say actually, except that i feel like an absolute beast for sitting on these tracks and not sharing. a scarcity monster hoarding rubies. sorry.
Day 1 of the Berlin Festival was a total joke yesterday. Over 20,000 tickets sold for venues that only hold hold 5,000? WTF indeed. This had us waiting in, for example, an angry, riot-ready mob when it was announced that Hanger 4 was at capacity and no one else was getting into see Fever Ray. Well, gee, thanks for telling us now that inside the mega-venue are small venues with rigid capacity limits. The main stage (with unlimited capacity) was sitting empty for the whole night while fences we being kicked down and people being tackled trying to get into Fever Ray and then again at 2manydj's. Another lowlight was the sound mans' attempts to turn the volume down on electro-thrash master Erol Alkan. He would let them turn it down, then he would just turn it back up in their face. This obviously worked the already jacked-up crowd into a frenzy... so much so that I began to wonder if it was somehow staged. Afterward, however, I was tipped off that despite the fact that there are no houses insight from the closed airport, there was still a noise limit curfew. Another head scratching aspect of the dismal Berlin Fest. The icing on the cake, however, was the Police's decision to shut the whole festival down, or what was left of day 1, at 12:30, when there was many more acts to come; acts including Fatboy Slim and 2manydj's. This decision was obviously based on the recent tragedy at Love Parade, where 20 people were trampled to death because of poor exit-route planning. Fair enough. We wouldnt argue with canceling the show, after seeing the problems that almost broke out at the Fever Ray gate. However, a little foresight could have changed everything. I give it an F for event organization. If I'd have paid for my ticket, I would be demanding my money back.
Lcd Soundsystem were of course great, although admittedly less great than they were a few months ago. Their show yesterday leaned almost exclusively on older tracks and high tempos, whereas there other show did the opposite in both regards. Editors were, um, less than average. Sorry, but their live show just comes off as trying to sound like Tea Party, Nine Inch Nails and Coldplay wrapped into one. But I should try to check out heir older albums apparently.
In light of the day 1 madness, Berlin Festival (dis)organizers changed around the timetable for day 2 (today) and now the festival ends at 11pm. That's good because (enter shameless self-promotion) it gives everyone enough time to get over to the CCCP Club (Rosenthalerstr 71) to hear Lee Jones, Jan Blomqvistson (live) and me bathe you in nice soulful beats. Lee just finished mixing the new Watergate compilation and I can say that its very very nice. It will be due out mid-october. Soon he will leak a track from the new mix to a few blogs (mine being one of them), so I will give you all the background on Lee as well as a little interview when that happens.
I have a couple nice posts cooking up - getting back into the disco edits and house side of things. Speak soon.
Right click and save the song that closes the above clip Lemonade - Vet
Quickly, the Wild Beasts are a very modern Britain art pop-rock group who have been steadily gaining alot of attention and praise over the past few years. Their first album Limbo, Panto put them on the map as an original and talented up and coming indie act, while their 2009 album Two Dancers (and the accompanying Mercury Prize nomination) cemented them into the fabric of modern pop. Although (perhaps) initially off-putting, the trill, dramatic and metrosexual voice of lead singer Hayden Thorpe has a way of eventually finding a place of awe and appreciation.
The Fun Powder Plot
Hooting and Howling
Here's a decent interview they gave early last year before their album Two Dancers was finished.
Read the not always agreeable, but always interesting and well written Pitchfork reviews of the Wild Beasts Limbo, Panto and Two Dancers
What turned me on to these guys was hearing the new 12" Wild Beasts Remixes EP from Domino Records. Actually it was just the Junior Boys remix of The Fun Powder Plot, the standout on the EP, that got me on the Beasts. When it is released you might want to get your hands on their remix for your Grouse grinds, elliptical sweat sessions, or lava lamp brownie parties.
The Junior Boys have kinda been on a roll lately. Their remix of Caribou's Odessa is phenomenal (right click here to download) Odessa (Junior Boys Mix) by cityslang
Their recent remix of Yoko Ono's Give Me Something was the only thing I could digest off that recent nails-on-blackboard Ono offering.
UPDATED NOTE: if you wish to download these albums, you will have to do it yourself as this post was removed for license violation.
Wild Beasts Discography (buy) Limbo, Panto Two Dancers We Still Got the Taste Dancing on Our Tongue EP
(Note: go here first if you don't know about the Arcade Fire)
It started well, sitting in my room in pajamas, sipping coffee at 5 pm, when my friend told me she was going to the show in 20 mins with her friend. I had forgoten all about it and so had not arranged a ticket. I went anyway, to check out the scalper-ticket scene and, if that was pricey, any secret entrances. Scalper tickets were steep (70 / 80 euros for what was a 31 euro, albeit sold-out, show) and the place was too small to have unguarded entrances. Plus security was alert as it seemed I wasn't the only one without a ticket and bent on going.
Luckily, after some stress, concern and cunning conversation I managed to find a way in.
All smiles now as we get comfortable on the main floor of the small but classy general admission venue. The Fire are quickly on stage and tearing into Ready to Start one of the catchier tracks from the new album, the Suburbs with a bumpy Strokes-inspired rhythm. Next they play a forgettable song from the new album and two Neon Bible rockers, Keep the Car Running and No Cars Go. After these I'm pretty excited, although I knew right away from the size of the venue that Bruce Springsteen was not in the house and would not be making the now-famous cameo in Keep the Car Running.
Not much audience communication from Win or the band for the first 4 tracks. In fact besides a 'Hello', the only thing he said, I think after Keep the Car Running, was 'Its been a while since we've been here, good to be back'. Then he paused waiting for the crowd to scream. It simply didn't. So gruffly he says, 'So that's how its going to be' and turns coldly around to the band who starts up No Cars Go. Ok. Then they played Haiti, their obvious attempt to bring us emotionally closer after the 4 pumping tracks. But it failed, at least for me, for instead of drawing us in, it only seemed to scatter everyone's eyes around the room. And in this room that was not welcome, for it quickly became apparent that Berlins love of Arcade Fire is merely academic, or at least it was for most of those who could afford the 30 euro concert ticket. 35 - 45 year olds donning thick rimmed glasses, cardigans, and tight haircuts trying to groove to Haiti - a very awkward scene to say the least. Four more forgettable average tracks off their new album only made this geekstreet.com party more shifty and dull. I was staring to get frustrated.
Jagermeister... zwei bitte.
At this point I thought that maybe booking Arcade Fire in Tempodrom is just some promoter's swindle. An outdoor concert for 12 euros would have brought out the cool kids and let the web designers and architects geek out. But would it have changed the set list?
Intervention now and some hands come up. Only a few fists pump the crisp (read absolutely smokeless) air. Great song no doubt, but hearing it live didn't do it for me. It only brought to the forefront the hard fact that Arcade Fire are a rock band. For now, this fact shall remain neutral. However, in this context in means that Intervention doesn't have to be a straight rock song, it has gospel roots, a delicate glockenspiel bounce, and a great acoustic guitar rhythm, so why did it have to come at me as a wall of sound? This line of questioning was the beginning of the end of my open eagerness to hear them as them, and the the start of my wanting to hear them as I would have them.
That said, I had no trouble at all getting emotional and dramatic to Crown of Love and jumpy and yelly to Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) - two basically perfect songs that were played excellent and strong. We Used to Wait was equally awesome. 'The best song on the new album', my friend said with confidence as the opening punchy piano strokes filled the room. I nodded in firm agreement. They finished the main set with Power Out and Rebellion (Lies). The latter was great, eyes closed singing along, but Power Out, on the other hand, had the Fire channeling this unwelcome wall of sound presence again.
They took a break, and I went inward wondering why I wasn't fully enjoying myself. I was seeing one of my favourite bands live for the first time after all, so why so troubled? I started thinking about my recent experience at a Pearl Jam concert where I kept thinking similar thoughts, namely, 'Can these guys please just take their fists off the Rock Button for a bit?' Pearl Jam was WAY worse, to the point of performing many of their great softer songs in punk style. But I think Arcade Fire can be rightly accused of the same malfunction - rock is an emotional tool or state that bands can and should call upon or manifest as at times, but it should never be a bands essence or goal. After all, rock is just a beefy rhythm and blues with a folk girlfriend, a jazz mistress and a country maid. Or maybe I'm just getting old.
But whatever, Arcade Fire is indisputably a great band, I just wasn't expecting them to be a straight-up rock band live. I liked them better when they were (in my mind) a mostly-acoustic indie-pop band with strong folk influences who often found themselves rocking. I guess with 7 members, breaking it down, elongating the songs and allowing for more solos would only serve to bore the other members. But maybe not. Maybe the second violinist would be happy playing less if it meant that when she did play the audience could actually hear what she is playing.
They rush back on stage and I cease the judgmental internal banter, and begin trying to figure out what songs they will play in their encores. They start with Sprawl II, the political Fleetwood Mac-esque track off the new album that has Regine singing lead vocals. While there is little question that the girls liked this one best, it is more than just a chick song, for the driving piano in the chorus had me and the other guys stomping. However, towards the end of the song the obviousness of the desperate need for more instrumental and solo sensitivity became fully manifest as the Fire with Regine at the reigns and the piano underfoot, had the crowd fully for a moment. I am sure everyone in the room wanted her to sing solo over just the piano, a brushed snare and some strings, for only 30 seconds before adding some more instruments or just fading out. But they didn't. They quickly and prematurely ended the song with a crash (or something similarly displeasing) and began the epic sing-along Wake Up. Then they rushed off stage and the house lights came up. A large WTF echoed through Tempodroms micro-noosphere. Only one encore? Unhinged I start screaming 'My Body is a Cage', before right out singing the song that should have been the last in the second encore. One of the few youngsters in the room knows what I am on about and hums along in accordance. She asks if I have heard the outstanding Peter Gabriel version. I say no. But that I will check it out.
We gather our thoughts outside, and come to the sullen conclusion that it could have been better, much better. More intimate moments, more solos, more talk with the crowd, another encore and way too much rock. We thought that Berlin didn't get 2 encores because of Wins pithy (and only!) comment of the night, but looking at the other set lists from the tour I see that everyone got only one encore, and no one got My Body is a Cage. However we all agreed that the show was still quite good by any normal concert-band standards. Seeing live for the first time the songs that defined such a huge period of my life was very very good. I was after all goose bumped, eyes closed, and almost tearing whilst reliving the brighter moments of 2006/07. We came to the point (made back to the point made in the Nicolas Jaar post) that greatness generates its own unique standard. We all just wanted Arcade Fire to be great by the standard we thought they created with their music, lyrics, styles and causes. We didn't keep in mind that everything about the evenings songs and this tour were consciously planned by the Fire, who are probably really happy with the new album and tour (even if they didn't like Berlin). Now we may rightly ask ourselves if being disappointed is just a product of our unfulfilled unrealistic expectation? I say yes and no. Yes (unrealistic) because they are happy with the show and the album. No because Arcade Fire are still a young band, they have already proved they are one of the best studio bands around and now they need to work on their live act. Their energy and instruments are great. Their melodies and lyrics are brilliant. Now all they need is to have a calm and relaxed stage presence and a more jam-band style approach to the live show - things that would be as simple (but not as easy) as recreating the music environment of their warm-up jams at Win and Regine's place in Montreal. Then and only then will they be great by their own standard. Until then, well, we are used to waiting.
We Used To Wait
And here's the Peter Gabriel connection.
Download: Peter Gabriel Covers Album - Scratch My Back (Hotfile)
01 Heroes (David Bowie cover) 02 The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon cover) 03 Mirrorball (Elbow cover) 04 Flume (Bon Iver cover) 05 Listening Wind (Talking Heads cover) 06 The Power of the Heart (Lou Reed cover) 07 My Body Is a Cage (Arcade Fire cover) 08 The Book of Love (Magnetic Fields cover) 09 I Think It's Going to Rain Today (Randy Newman cover) 10 Après Moi (Regina Spektor cover) 11 Philadelphia (Neil Young cover) 12 Street Spirit (Radiohead cover)
Read a bit about Gabriel's new found appreciation for the Fire here.
"This system's gonna fall soon, to an angry young tune - and that's a concrete cold fact" - Sixto Rodriguez, Establishment Blues
Sixto Diaz Rodriguez was born July 10, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan. He was the sixth born, so his parents, who immigrated from Mexico in the 1920's, called him Sixto. He only produced two albums, Cold Fact (1970) and Coming From Reality (1971) and was quite big in South Africa and Australia, but for some reason he never made it big in the states. Its strange because his voice, lyrics and melodies are very Dylanesque - classic American blues-infused folk rock. The themes he sings about are almost all socially oriented, inspired by and attempting to raise awareness of the injustices of inner city life.
"My inspiration comes from the environment and personal angst...each song is written to a theme..." - Rodriguez, March 1998
"I've always concentrated on social issues, because I've always found it easiest to write about things that upset me. But I can (and have) explored the boy-girl theme in music and I enjoy writing ballads too." - Rodriguez, March 1998
I am absolutely in love with this track. Sugar Man
Nicolas Jaar started 30 mins late, due to technical difficulties in what appeared to be his live gear setup; a classic microphone, a trigger pad, and a keyboard. By this time the Bar was full, too full for comfort, not only because of the all the people, but because of all the hype. It seemed like everyone and their dog had just become superfans of Jaar to the point where every conversation you heard was about him being 19 or a genius or sexy or the best in the world or whatever. I sluffed it off and tried to focus in on the excitement in the sticky wood room. I was now positioned halfway back with a minimal view for I was forced from my front row spot by the hyped up, over-enthused bandwagon jumpers stampeding forward when Jaar stepped behind the decks, 5 Soul Clap tracks before he would play.
I wont recap tracks played, as there weren't tracks played per se, just samples. You see, Jaar never dj's, so all of his sets are live, in the sense that he uses abelton and triggers loops he has made or taken from other tracks (the degree to which it is actually 'live' is an interesting current debate discussed briefly here, for as one seasoned dj said to me after the show, if one stands at the back of the room one could not be able to tell if it was someone playing abelton live or a savvy dj with a bag of pre-edited tracks). If you have heard any of his live recorded sets that are floating around the internet then you will have an idea of the kind of samples he uses. They vary from hip-hop to break beats, latin to electric guitars, classical to modern orchestras, and funk to jazz grooves. He is an eclectic music lover, as we all claim to be, except he has a formal education in music and a multi-continental (and multi-cultural) upbringing. His live sets are special and now famous because he ties all of these various sounds and sources together with a narrating vibe, that of emotional, sometimes techy, minimal house. And make no mistake that the kid is gifted and genius-like and that his sets are special, important and unique, but my contribution will not be pump his already inflated tire more with platitudes; my two cents will read more like a cautionary note about the blindingness of hype. For in this case, he sadly, but unsurprisingly, did not live up to my expectations. I say unsurprisingly because with Jaar it could be said that his legend has grown so big that it can only disappoint. However, I quickly realized that my opinion of disappoint was a minority one after surveying randoms post show. However, this conclusion of disappointment might be reached in a more logical argument that is based on some of the facts of his enterprise.
Firstly, it was of the opinion of a few respected people, whose names needn't be mentioned, that his set was far too choppy, in the sense that he slowed down and sped up the tempo to the point where holding on to a dance groove for more than 2 minutes became a rare thing. For example, he would have the crowd bopping along at say, 120 then slide in the next sample (albeit masterfully) that cut the rhythm down by a third for a minute before changing the beat and melody altogether. As he is in fact attempting to market his music to a dance population, he seems to have a fair amount of disregard for the basic needs of his clientele, an unwise business strategy for even the most innovative of products.
The second point is also major and relates to the first - the energetic builds he generated through breaking down a beat to its essentials or effect layering, simply never piqued. They died or fizzled out. This is huge and it happens all the time. An obviously talented artist will work the crowd up to such a point that it can be rightly said that he has the room in his or her hands. But this point should never be the end goal of an artist, it should always be the journey; having us in your hands is just a necessity of a great musical Sherpa. But it is always a means to an end. For Jaar it seemed like an end itself, for he seemed satisfied with the build that he was unconcerned that it built up to merely the next loop. When you have us in your hands in a beautiful build (and make no mistake that his builds were beautiful, sometimes utilizing an amazing surround sound dynamic with swooshes or clackers) we are excited for what we are building towards. We naturally generate expectations, based on the vibe, loops and samples used in the build, as to how the crescendo will be. And with a talent like Jaar at the helm, our expectations may tend to teeter into the unrealistic, but so be it, expectations are murky things at best. The basic point is that Jaar did not bring us up to a new level with his builds, he merely worked us up and let us down, again and again and again - with the tempo and the builds. And as he is in the business of getting crowds dancing and he is interested in this, which he says he is, he should understand that if he is building the energy, he better build something out of it, something danceable for sure, but also satisfying and releasing, for that is what we are all expecting. The fact that most dancers weren't bothered by this, I would only forecast that they will in time, when the hype of a 19 year old making dance music out of mostly acoustic eclectic sources fades.
But this brings us to the larger point about Jaar and advanced talent in any domain: greatness generates its own unique standard. That is to say, that when it is known and obvious that someone has great talent, it becomes almost impossible to compare them to others. We immediately slip into a frame of reference whereby we are comparing the talent to our sense of what they could be, our expectation. With Jaar this is undoubtedly the case. From his original work or recorded sets we all understand that he has great talent, so when the time comes to see him live, we expect greatness however we so conceive it. But we do not know that he might, for example, be trying to get away from the automatic expectation that a build will build and break in the normal, releasing and satisfying way. He may also being trying to fight or make a statement against the mono-tempo norm adhered to by most clubs, dj's and electronic dance music artists. That's fine if that's what he is doing, and it seems like it is. I am down with changing norms and re-examining unconscious and conscious assumptions and expectations. But at the end of the day there are just people who want to dance and release some of the tensions of the modern world. As an artist who plays in clubs, for dancers, this should be Jaar's driving goal unless otherwise stated. Coming from a classical background, perhaps he is caught between the two musical worlds of dance and seated (i.e. jazz and classical) music, and this identity crisis results in a choppy live set. I cant be sure. But what is for sure, is that he has great taste in music, and will continue to produce great music, and will only refine his live show. And as long as his live show is in front of dancers lets hope he refines in favor of the basic needs of dancers or make clear that we need to rethink our expectations as dancers.
In closing, it sounds contradictory to say that Nicolas Jaar is raising the bar in dance music with builds that let down and choppy tempos - but somehow he is. However, he is not doing it by dropping the average tempo in his sets although he is contributing to the average-tempo-dropping movement. And he is not doing it with choppy tempo lurches or builds without release, those will get tiring and unfulfilling respectively, when the hype dies. He is instead doing it by not adhering to the standard dance music forms and expectations, whether it be tempo ebb and flow or build-release exchange. And it is this that makes his music so interesting and hype-worthy. But the way he disregards this form is so stylish and engaging (for his samples, synths and chord progressions are on super point and targeting your emotions) that he will spawn followers that will both stray further from and stay closer to convention. And it is the latter of these groups that I feel are where dance music is going - those that will work more closely with the basic needs and expectations of dancers while pushing the limits of form and tempo, 'live'.
Post-Script Nicolas Jaar - Resident Advisor Podcast 211, June 2010 (Hotfile)
This post and the next will be somewhat of a recap and/or review of the Soul Clap and Nicolas Jaar gigs at Bar25 on Monday. Check the bottom for downloads.
Soul Clap: Collars Up
The Bar was half full when I arrived 1.5 hours into Soul Clap's 4 hour set. I had been listening to the beginning of their set at home waiting for something to pull me there sooner. It was Jaar who was the not-to-be-missed act after all. Then over the radio I heard Mau's Maulongated Discofied Tribute of Fleetwood Mac's Brown Eyes, so I put on my shoes and got on my bike.
I happily paid the 5 euros entrance, got a drink and easily made my way up to Eli and Cayce (Soul Clap). Eli was in control and in an 80's groove. As the sound system at the Bar is sub-par I had no trouble chatting to him between mixes about everything from slow-tempo jams, the tracks he was playing, his love for Berlin and the sub-par system itself. Regarding the latter, he couldn't care less as it was the infamous Bar25 after all and his first time playing there, although he said he did play at Bar24 recently. Regarding the former (slow-tempo), he stated with confidence that slow house was "catching on" and that club promoters don't hassle them about dropping the tempo. He said that their sets typically drop to around 90 and generally never go over 120 bpms. I guess when your some kind of representative for slower house music as Soul Clap and anything Wolf + Lamb is, promoters book you for that very reason.
Some notable tracks they played are as follows:
Metro Area - Caught Up
808 State by Pacific State was a pleasant surprise and very appropriate for the vibe of the room the time it was played.
They played Alan Smithee - Blue Blackness (Masters at Work Remix) but I cant find it to embed here, so here is the Smooth Edit, which is also ace and similar to the one they played.
I urged then to play some newer tracks and they eventually responded with an absolute dynamite unreleased track called Principles by Benoit and Sergio; a track that will make you want to stay close to their myspace for release info.
They also played their new remix of Kathy Diamonds' Love Saves the Day. The original is nice too.
But throughout the 2.5 hours of Soul Clap's remaining set, I wavered constantly between being blissed-out and impressed by the melodic house and annoyed by the hip-hop influenced and overly-Americanized music they played. With 4 hours to kill they needn't stick to one style of course, but their foray into hip-hop and R&B sampled music was jarring when juxtaposed with their tasty Wolf + Lamb vibe. Of course with tracks like Extravaganza, their rip-off or remix of Jamie Foxx's R&B hit, I shouldn't be surprised or disappointed when that sound made its way through the Bar's boxes repeatedly throughout the set. But I was. Its nothing against hip hop or R&B, I would never attack a genre, its just that I find the attitude behind or infused in the songs to be off-putting at the least and nauseating at worst. I mean Soul Clap's Extravaganza is billed as a guaranteed "ladies-report-to-the-dancefloor-for-booty-shake" anthem, but is this a good thing?? Maybe in Texas, or Chicago where Soul Clap are from, but not in Berlin. Of course the piano work, drums and synth work are great in Extravaganza, but the vocals instantly put the listener inside a rap video, where drinking and dressing expensively, bragging about one's unremarkable and likely fictitious accomplishments, political and social unconsciousness and sexism are rewarded and enshrined as 'the good life'. That is to say that music infused with this attitude seems to only contribute to the ills of the world, through everything from shit product promotion to amorality. I wont rant further, although much more needs to be said - huge statements like these should not be without factual and philosophical support, however, this is a blog - a medium based on freeform editorialism. So then lets just be clear on what I'm not saying; rap and R&B music can be great (without egoism, sexism and hyper consumerism) and Soul Clap are not bad, (although for me they would be better if they toned down the gangster attitude - wearing sunglasses while you dj in a club at night is just childish at this point, Cayce). Having a hip-hop influenced set, with rhymes is often a nice variation, lets just try to keep the rhymes about socially positive themes and not about ego-stroking.
Circlesquare is Vancouver born and Berlin-based Jeremy Shaw. His music is thick and powerful, and I would say more important for the music world (by way of inspiring musicians) than it is great. But it can also be very great. Jeremy began Circlesquare in 1999 with a 3 track EP called The Distance After - an EP which began to sketch out the musical landscape Jeremy sought to chart. By 2003 his orientation in this space was more defined with his full length album Pre-Earthquake Anthem. Boomkat called it “dense, considered stuff… mixing up a brooding and pounding melancholy, bass-fueled sensory exploration, and purest minimal electronic meltdown.”
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